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POLITICS

McCain denies attacking Sandinista

CARTAGENA, Colombia | Sen. John McCain denied a Republican colleague’s claim that he roughed up an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on a diplomatic mission in 1987, saying the accusation was “simply not true.”

Sen. Thad Cochran, Mississippi Republican, told a Mississippi newspaper that he saw Mr. McCain, during a trip to Nicaragua led by then-Sen. Bob Dole, Kansas Republican, grab an Ortega associate by his shirt collar and lift him out of his chair.

The Republican presidential contender, who is known for his hot temper, was questioned about the supposed incident at a news conference here on Wednesday.

“I had many, many meetings with the Sandinistas,” Mr. McCain said. “I must say, I did not admire the Sandinistas much. But there was never anything of that nature. It just didn’t happen.”

LAND MANAGEMENT

Moratorium ends on solar-plant bids

The government said Wednesday it is calling off a recently announced moratorium on applications to build solar plants on public lands.

The Bureau of Land Management made the announcement after public opposition to its original decision, reached at the end of May.

The BLM had wanted to put new applications for solar plants on federal land on hold while undertaking a comprehensive review of potential environmental impacts from such plants. That review was not scheduled for completion until May 2010.

Meanwhile, BLM planned to keep processing the applications it’s already received for 125 proposed solar projects on about 1 million acres in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. BLM has yet to approve a solar project on federal land; the solar projects already built or under way in this country are on private property.

POLITICS

RNC unit finances ad on energy

An independent arm of the Republican National Committee plans to spend $3 million on an ad campaign contrasting Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain to Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama on energy security.

The ad will run in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin beginning Sunday. The ad represents the first of the RNC’s independent expenditure operation. The effort will be run by Republican media consultant Brad Todd of On Message Inc., a media and polling firm that worked on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

Mr. Todd said the ad will focus on energy, “which is emerging as a defining difference in the race for president.”

By setting up a separate organization within the RNC, the national party can spend unlimited resources on behalf of Mr. McCain as long as it does not coordinate with the candidate’s campaign.

“Following Barack Obama’s decision to become the only major party presidential candidate in history to not adhere to campaign spending caps, the Republican National Committee has begun an independent expenditure campaign in accordance with FEC regulations,” Mr. Todd said.

POLITICS

Poll finds split on Michelle Obama

The public hasn’t taken to Michelle Obama yet, especially whites. And it’s got a question about Cindy McCain: Who is she?

People are divided over whether they like the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, with 30 percent seeing her favorably and 35 percent unfavorably, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Wednesday.

They tilt positively toward the spouse of Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain, by 27 percent to 17 percent. In other words: While the two women are about equally liked, Mrs. Obama is twice as disliked as Mrs. McCain.

Whites have an unfavorable view of Mrs. Obama by 18 percentage points, while eight in 10 blacks like her. That is reminiscent of how Mr. Obama fared in the Democratic primaries against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In the AP-Yahoo News poll, whites saw Mrs. McCain positively by 17 points, while one in eight blacks like her.

Nearly six in 10, or 56 percent, said they know too little to say much about Mrs. McCain - exceeding the 34 percent clueless about Mrs. Obama.

CONGRESS

Letters urge Bush to focus on energy

Members of Congress are asking President Bush to address a host of energy matters at the Group of Eight summit later this month.

In separate letters, lawmakers asked Mr. Bush to raise issues ranging from the impact of speculation on soaring oil prices to the need for international cooperation on capturing carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants.

The summit “is an important opportunity to tackle the problem of rising oil prices on a global scale,” 49 House Democrats wrote to Mr. Bush. “We urge you to engage your counterparts in efforts to reduce global oil speculation and other questionable market activities that distort the supply and demand market equation.”

STATE

U.S. envoy takes message to Bolivia

The U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, Philip Goldberg, returned to La Paz on Wednesday after being recalled to Washington two weeks ago for consultations following violent protests outside the U.S. Embassy in the Bolivian capital.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has asked Mr. Goldberg to “seek meetings with Bolivian officials to convey the results of his consultations and discuss issues of mutual interest,” said Heide Bronke, a State Department spokeswoman.

“His return highlights our commitment to our relationship with the Bolivian nation and people,” the spokeswoman said. “We believe that our relationship has been built on common values, shared interests, and respectful dialogue. This is what defines our engagement with Bolivia, and we expect the same from the government of Bolivia.”

From wire dispatches and staff reports